II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1019 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal certain provisions 

relating to criminal penalties and violations of foreign laws, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. MCCONNELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to repeal 

certain provisions relating to criminal penalties and violations of foreign laws, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom from Over5 Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

7 (a) PROHIBITED ACTS.—Section 3(a) of the Lacey 

8 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(a)) is amend9 ed— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or 

3 in violation of any foreign law’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

5 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, or any 

6 foreign law,’’; 

7 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or any 

8 foreign law’’; and 

9 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, or 

10 under any foreign law,’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (3)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘for13 eign law or’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

15 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, or any 

16 foreign law,’’; 

17 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘or any 

18 foreign law’’; and 

19 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, or 

20 under any foreign law,’’. 

21 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 4 of the Lacey Act Amend22 ments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (1) 

24 and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who en2 gages in conduct prohibited by any provision of 

3 this Act (other than subsections (b), (d), and 

4 (f) of section 3) and in the exercise of due care 

5 should know that the fish, wildlife, or plants 

6 were taken, possessed, transported, or sold in 

7 violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, any 

8 underlying law, treaty, or regulation, and any 

9 person who knowingly violates subsection (d) or 

10 (f) of section 3, may be assessed a civil penalty 

11 by the Secretary for each violation in accord12 ance with subparagraph (B) or (C), as applica13 ble. 

14 ‘‘(B) MARKET VALUE OF LESS THAN

15 $350.—If a violation under subparagraph (A) 

16 involves fish or wildlife or plants with a market 

17 value of less than $350 and involves only the 

18 transportation, acquisition, or receipt of fish, 

19 wildlife, or plants taken or possessed in viola20 tion of any law, treaty, or regulation of the 

21 United States, tribal law, or any law or regula22 tion of a State, the penalty assessed under sub23 paragraph (A) for the violation shall not exceed 

24 the lesser of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the maximum amount of the pen2 alty provided for violation of the law or 

3 regulation; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) $10,000. 

5 ‘‘(C) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—For any viola6 tion under subparagraph (A) that is not de7 scribed in subparagraph (B), the penalty as8 sessed under that subparagraph shall not ex9 ceed $200,000.’’; and 

10 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (e). 

11 (c) FORFEITURE.—Section 5 of the Lacey Act 

12 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in14 serting the following: 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—All fish, wildlife, or plants im16 ported, exported, transported, sold, received, acquired, or 

17 purchased in violation of section 3 (other than subsection 

18 (b) of that section), or any regulation issued under that 

19 section, shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States 

20 notwithstanding any culpability requirements for civil pen21 alty assessment under section 4.’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

23 subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (b) (as redesignated), by strik2 ing ‘‘convicted of an offense, or assessed a civil pen3 alty,’’ and inserting ‘‘assessed a civil penalty’’. 

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Lacey Act 

6 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375) is amend7 ed— 

8 (A) by striking subsection (b); 

9 (B) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

10 (d) as subsections (b) and (c), respectively; 

11 (C) in subsection (b) (as redesignated), by 

12 striking the third sentence; and 

13 (D) in the first sentence of subsection (c) 

14 (as redesignated)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘an arrest, a criminal 

16 conviction, civil penalty assessment, or for17 feiture of property’’ and inserting ‘‘a civil 

18 penalty assessment or forfeiture of prop19 erty’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘or criminal’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (A) Section 3(c)(3) of the Fish and Wild23 life Improvement Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

24 742l(c)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

25 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 


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1 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of 

2 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

3 3375(c))’’. 

4 (B) Section 503(b) of the Marine Mammal 

5 Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1423b(b)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (i) by striking the subsection designa8 tion and heading and all that follows 

9 through ‘‘The Secretary may utilize’’ in 

10 paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(b) UTILIZATION OF OTHER GOVERNMENT RE12 SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary may uti13 lize’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking paragraph (2). 

15 (C) Section 11(d) of the Endangered Spe16 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1540(d)) is amend17 ed in the fourth sentence by striking ‘‘section 

18 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 

19 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of 

20 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 

21 3375(c))’’. 

22 (D) Section 7(f) of the Rhinoceros and 

23 Tiger Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 5305a(f)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey 

25 Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘section 6(c) of the Lacey Act 

2 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

3 (E) Section 524(c)(4)(A) of title 28, 

4 United States Code, is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

6 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec7 tion 6(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

8 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

9 (F) Section 1402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Vic10 tims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

11 10601(b)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 

13 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d))’’ and inserting ‘‘sec14 tion 6(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

15 (16 U.S.C. 3375(c))’’. 

16 (e) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 8 of the Lacey Act 

17 Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3377) is amended by 

18 striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES REGULATED BY TUNA CONVENTION

20 ACTS.—Paragraphs (1), (2)(A), and (3)(A) of subsection 

21 3(a) shall not apply to any activity regulated by the Tuna 

22 Conventions Act of 1950 (16 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) or the 

23 Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 (16 U.S.C. 971 

24 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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